Alderman Drew King arraigned on assault charges

Ward 22 Alderman Rev. Drew King was formally arraigned on three misdemeanor offenses at a New Haven Superior Court hearing on Tuesday.

King promised to return to court to enter his plea on Feb. 5, Deputy Chief Clerk Kathy Naumann said. He will face charges of disorderly conduct, assault in the third degree and unlawful restraint in the second degree.

King, 55, was arrested on Friday after a 24-year-old woman who described herself as his girlfriend told police that he had pushed and choked her at a Dixwell “sober house” he runs, New Haven Police Department spokeswoman Bonnie Winchester said. King then left the scene but turned himself in to authorities Friday night.

The court also issued a protective order on Tuesday barring King from further contact with the accuser, Naumann said.

But in an interview on Sunday, King said the woman lied to police. He said she attacked him first, hitting him with a stick after he took a piece of sausage off her plate.

King, who chairs the Public Safety Committee on the Board of Aldermen, represents Dixwell, Silliman College, Timothy Dwight College, and Swing Space.